


What Comes Around...

by horatiofrog



Category: 13 Reasons Why (TV)
Genre: Episode: S3-E3 The Good is Indistinguishable from the Bad, Gen, Internal Monologue
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-14
Updated: 2019-09-14
Packaged: 2020-10-18 18:03:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,308
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20643389
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/horatiofrog/pseuds/horatiofrog
Summary: Justin's thoughts towards Bryce during the Village Motel scene in Episode 3.  Complete with internal monologue!





	What Comes Around...

The text came out of nowhere. 

> ** _Hey, it’s me. Village Motel, 10pm. I need to see you. It’s about Jess._ **

It was as if the world had come to a screeching halt. _What the actual _fuck_?_ _Why on earth would that asshole think I’d even _want_ to see him?_

A part of him wanted to blow it off. Ignore the entitled fuck. Aside from a shared, fucked up history, there was not one thing that Justin Foley had in common with the likes of Bryce Walker anymore. Not one thing.

Then he looked at the last part of the message: 

> ** _It’s about Jess._ **

Justin turned to Clay, who was still going on about his sort-of-date with Ani, made his excuses, and left. _Goddammit, Bryce, _he thought as he made his way halfway across town. _Figures you’d know _exactly _what to say to make me show the fuck up._

* * *

There wasn’t much to say about the Village Motel. It wasn’t the rodent- and vermin-infested dump that Justin had imagined. Then again, it wasn’t the Colonnades Hotel, either, which was about as five-star as one got in Evergreen, California. The single-level structure looked to be in good repair. The rooms were small, but Justin got the impression that they were clean.

> ** _I’m in the back by the pool._ **

_Figures there’d be a pool._ Bryce without a pool was like eighty-degree weather in Alaska – completely unheard of. Sure enough, once Justin made his way around the back of the motel he saw the face of his former friend, sitting nonchalantly at a cheap metal patio table, knocking back a beer as though nothing had happened between them. “Mom won’t let me drink at home anymore,” the older boy said, casually setting an opened drink in front of Justin. “Sit down, grab a beer.”

_Are you fucking kidding me? So, what…I’m supposed to just forget everything and have a few for old time’s sake? _ Justin said as much, ready to turn on his heel and leave.

Then Bryce’s tone changed. “My dad left. Did you know that?”

_Actually, no, I didn’t. What, was he finally too embarrassed by your shit to stick around?_

“My mom can’t stand to be around me.”

_She never really did in the first place, Bryce. How do you think I managed to stay in your pool house so much? _ Justin mentally shook his head._ This is nothing new._

“Chloe dumped me.”

_Girl’s got some brains after all. Jess tried to tell her. Hell, we _all_ tried to tell her. Glad she finally wised up._

“Hillcrest’s a fucking nightmare.”

_Like you made Liberty for all those girls? For Hannah, for Jess, for Clay? Jesus fuck, Bryce, cry me a fucking river. _“Am I supposed to feel sorry for you? Want me to give you _my_ fucking list?” _‘Cause I could, you know. I never knew _my_ dad. You’re one up on me there. My mom never really gave a shit about me; she was too busy getting high to even know where I was half the time. We’re not even going to get into her so-called “boyfriends”…fucking junkies who beat the shit out of me, starved me, stole from me and even threw me out of my own house! You think you’re alone now? Try being alone on the street. No money, no ‘friends,’ no food – you want to know what _I_ had to do to survive?! _

The thought of those nights with those men made Justin’s stomach turn a little. _Fuck you, Bryce. I _wish_ I had your problems._

“You have a family.”

“Hey, I’ve _never_ had a fucking family.”_ My real dad probably doesn’t even know my name. And Amber? Are you fucking kidding me? She’s probably too wasted to care. I told her to get the fuck out of town and away from that asshole boyfriend of hers, and she did…and just left me behind. I never mattered to my mother, Bryce. Not for one single second._

Justin thought briefly on Bryce’s point. _At least, I didn’t have a family until now. And God knows they wouldn’t want me if they knew the truth – that I’m still the fucked-up junkie addict they found eight months ago. Clay would have a shit. Mr. Jensen? Mrs. Jensen? _Visions of the fight in his foster family’s kitchen during Hannah’s trial haunted him. _Would they even still _want _me? I mean, all I seem to do is fuck everything up that I touch…_

_Except Clay. God knows that kid can handle the fucking-himself-up department all on his own most days. _

The younger boy shivered at the thought of Matt and Lainie Jensen deciding that they’d made a mistake; that adoption just wasn’t in the cards after all. He thought of Clay, the geeky kid with a shit-ton of perseverance and a hell of a savior complex. Justin shook his head as he thought of his brother, whether by love or by adoption, who thought it his personal mission to save his loved ones from harm – even if it meant harming himself in the process.

_I have a family _now_, Bryce. It may not be much to you, but it’s _everything_ to me._

Bryce continued. Was his voice…_breaking?_ “I was your family. For a while.” Justin watched as his former friend’s Adam’s apple stuck a little before he continued. “I’d do _anything_ to get that back.”

_Are you nuts? _Justin couldn’t believe his ears. “So, what? Is that what this is? You call me here, give me a couple of beers and suddenly I’m your ‘brother’ again?”

It was then he saw it – a single flash bouncing off of Bryce’s cheek. _Jesus…is he _crying?

“I fucked up. With you, with Jess…with everybody…”

_“Fucked up” is not the words I’d use to describe what you did, Bryce. Do you understand that you _killed_ a girl? You used her like you use everyone else, except now she’s gone and there’s consequences to it. You used Jess like she was a thing you could take from me, and now she’s making you own up to what you did to her. You almost killed Clay, when all he wanted was for you to admit what you’d done. Never counted on him being the thing that blew your shit wide open, did you?_

Justin considered Bryce a moment. The once-beloved athlete was now a broken shell of his former self. Gone was the arrogant swagger to his demeanor. Gone was the haughty pride in his voice. The younger boy felt a small glimmer of satisfaction flutter in his stomach. _Sucks when the world comes back around, doesn’t it, Bryce? Did you really think you’d be able to get away with your shit forever? _Justin shrugged a little in the night air. _Probably. _“Yeah, you did. And I just…kept letting you do it. And now we’re both gonna have to learn to live with that.”

The look on Bryce’s face was enough. For Justin, it was like scoring a small victory for himself. He’d had to learn to deal with his fuck-ups and his mistakes; had even paid for them in some part. It was luck—and Clay’s determination—that had brought him to the Jensen’s home and given him a family. It was a full-blown miracle that Jessica had decided to take him back, both as a friend and as something more, even if she couldn’t ever fully forgive him. Hell, he hadn’t even begun to forgive _himself_ for what happened to her. Her acceptance gave him hope that he might be able to someday.

Justin turned and started heading back home; back to where his _real_ family and his _real _brother were waiting for him. _For once, Bryce, you’re gonna have to accept the consequences for the shit you’ve done. Court of public opinion sucks, doesn’t it?_


End file.
